Bulk pack for cold flow material



y 8, 1968 M. F. ADAMS 3,385,504

BULK PACK FOR COLD FLOW MATERIAL Filed April 26, 1967 IN HWTOR MAR/0N F. flan/us z/wzzmmua% m I Ila 0141858 United States Patent 3,385,504 7 BULK PACK FOR COLD FLOW MATERIAL Marion F. Adams, Indianapolis, Ind., assignor to Inland Container Corporation, Indianapolis, Ind., a corporation of Indiana Filed Apr. 26, 1967, Ser. No. 633,998 Claims. (Cl. 229-23) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A corrugated board container having an inner tube nested within an outer tube, corner fillersinterposed between the two tubes at the corners of the container, a horizontal frame interposed between the two tubes at the upper margin of the container and supported by the corner fillers, and flaps attached to the two tubes for closing the lower ends of the two tubes and for fastening the inner tube to the outer tube near the upper margin of the container.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the inventi0n.The present invention relates to improvements in multiple folded blank boxes, and to nested, stayed, or interbraced combination packages.

Description of the prior art.-The prior art containers for packaging granular materials or materials having cold flow properties, such as synthetic rubber, have generally used multiple thickness sidewalls. One example of this approach is shown invBronte et al., 3,063,615, which shows two tubes nested snugly together to form double thickness sidewalls. Another approach is shown in Donahue et al., 3,198,328, which shows two inner tubes, one above the other, separated by a horizontal panel, and all snugly nested within an outer tube.

The need for strong sidewalls in the packaging of granular materials and particularly materials having cold flow properties results from the fact that these materials tend to deform under their own weight over a short period of time, subjecting the containers used to package them to great lateral stresses which tend to deform and rupture the containers. If the containers deform or rupture, there is great difiiculty in loading and unloading them from the vehicles in which they are transported. For example, when containers are loaded in a truck, they are placed side by side and, if loading permits, they may also be stacked in tiers. If the sidewalls of the containers bulge under the stresses of the cold flow material, the containers become wedged in the truck making it extremely difficult to unload them.

In addition to the containers being able to withstand the stresses of the cold flow materials, it is desirable to ship the containers in flattened condition to the user so that they occupy a minimum of transportation space when empty, and also so that the user may'quickly and simply set up and load the containers without the use of special tools.

The container of the present invention provides a novel solution to the above mentioned problems by providing a container which may be shipped knocked down to the user, may be quickly and simply erected and loaded, and which will not appreciably deform under the stresses of the cold flow materials loaded in it.

The container of the present invention uses fewer parts than prior art containers to perform the same functions, thereby substantially reducing the time and labor required to erect a container for loading. The stacking strength provided by the container of the present invention enables the user to load railroad cars to maximum weights and thereby receive the best freight rates.

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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the container of this invention, two nested tubes of corrugated board are separated by vertical laminated corrugated board angle fillers located at each corner of the container. A frame of wood or other suitable material is interposed between the nested tubes at the top of the container and rests upon the corrugated board angle fillers. The separation of the two nested tubes by the angle fillers permits deformation of the inner tube under stresses produced by cold flow material without significant deformation of the outer tube. The angle fillers and frame also strengthen the container that it is capable of supporting other similar containers placed on top of it. The frame at the top of the container serves to rigidize the top of the container thus facilitating loading, and permits the two nested tubes to be securely fastened together by suitable means. The frame further serves to substantially equally distribute the weight of a stacked container over all of the angle fillers, thus permitting heavier overall loading without significant deformation of the container.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a container for cold flow materials which may be shipped to the user knocked down.

It is a further object to provide a container that may be easily and simply erected and loaded without the use of any special tools.

It is yet another object of the present invention to pro vide a container for cold flow materials that will withstand without significant deformation the stresses caused by the flowing of such material.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The full nature of the invention will be understood from the accompanying drawings and the following description and claims.

FIG. 1 is an exploded, perspective view showing the components of the container of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing how the components of the container are assembled;

FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view taken generally along the line 33 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view, partly in cut away, of a cover for use with the container.

FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view similar to that of FIG. 3 and showing the relationship of the cover to the other parts of the container.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1, the preferred embodiment of the container of this invention comprises a first tube 11, a sec ond tube 12, a frame 13, angle fillers 14 (preferably formed of corrugated board), and means for securely fastening the first (outer) tube, the second (inner) tube and the frame together.

The tubes are formed of corrugated board and are of different size, the inner tube 12 being smaller than the outer tube 11, thus permitting the nesting of the two tubes. The dimensions of the two tubes should be selected in conjunction with the dimensions of the angle fillers 14 and frame 13 so as to provide a snug fit between the angle fillers and the two tubes, and so that the top of the first tube 11, the top of the second tube 12 exclusive of downturned flanges (to be subsequently described), and the top of the frame 13 are coplanar as shown in FIG. 2. The tubes 11 and 12 may be of rectangular cross section as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, or may be of another polygonal cross section, such as hexagonal.

The first tube 11 has a bottom (not shown) and a plurality of sidewalls 19.

The second tube 12 has a bottom (not shown), a plurality of sidewalls 15, and may have flanges 16, the flanges including horizontal portions 17 and vertical portions 18. The base of the outer tube or sheath 11 and of the tube 12 may be provided with a bottom having a conventional flap closure arrangement, the design of which will be determined by the particular use intended. This bottom structure is not described herein since it is conventional and does not form a part of the present invention, however, it has been found that the performance of the container may be improved by fastening the bottom closure flaps of the inner tube to the bottom closure flaps of the outer tube. The horizontal portions 17 of the flanges extend outwardly from the inner tube 12 and overlie the frame 13 and the top of the sidewalls 19 of the outer tube. The vertical portions 18 extend downwardly from the outer edges of the horizontal portions 17 and exemplifies one means for securely fastening the first tube 11, the second tube 12, and the frame 13 together; as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

The means for fastening the first tube 11, the second tube 12, and the frame 13 together may consist of conventional metal strapping 21 as shown in FIG. 3, or may consist of staples, gluing, or other suitable fastening means. In some applications it may be desirable to omit the flanges 16.

The container may be provided with a cover 22 having a cover panel 23 and a plurality of dependent skirt panels 24 as shown in FIG. 4. The cover may be received over the flanges 16, or if no flanges 16 are used, then over the upper margins of the tubes 11 and 12, the skirt panels 24 overlying the upper portions of the sidewalls as shown in FIG. 5.

In erecting and assembling the container of this invention, the first tube 11 is first erected and its bottom closed. Next, the second tube 12 is erected and its bottom closed and this tube is inserted into the outer tube. Glue or cement may be applied to the bottom of the second tube 12 before it is inserted into the first tube 11 to fasten the bottoms of the two tubes together. Next, the angle fillers 14 are inserted between the tubes as shown in FIG. 1. Subsequently, the frame is placed between the first and second tubes and resting on the angle fillers to permit stress transferral between the frame and the fillers 14. The flanges 16, if used, are then bent outwardly and downwardly and may be fastened by metal strapping 21 or other suitable means which securely fastens the first tube, the second tube, and the frame together.

It will be evident that the clearance between the tubes making up the container, this clearance being defined by the width of the elements of the frame 13 and the angle fillers 14, permits the inner tube 12 to bulge somewhat as the deforming load flows into a shape of larger crosssection, thus absorbing some of the deforming pressure without bulging or deforming the outer tube. The angle fillers improve the stacking strength of the containers and strengthen the corners of the containers, the areas inherently weakest in resisting splitting and tearing under outward, bulging stress. The reinforcing frame 13, at the top of the container, resting on the upper ends of the angle fillers, gives rigidity and stability to the open, upper end of the container. The frame 13 and the angle fillers 14 cooperate to maintain the depth of the container, thereby reducing bulging. Containers embodying the structure of the present invention are suitable for carrying more than 2,000 pounds of granular or cold flow material.

It will, of course, also be understood that the various details of construction may be modified through a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention, and it is not, therefore, the purpose to limit the patent granted hereon otherwise than necessitated by the scope of the appended claims. For example, the angle fillers 14 may be formed in two or more sections and a frame similar to the frame 13 placed intermediate or between the respective sections.

I claim:

1. A container comprising: a first tube; a second tube nested within said first tube and having its upper margin generally aligned with the upper margin of said first tube; a plurality of corner posts interposed between said first and second tubes and extending substantially the entire length of said tubes; a frame supported on said corner posts; and fastening means including flanges extending from the upper margin of said second tube and folded to overlie said frame and said first tube.

2. The container of claim 1 wherein said fastening means includes a strap overlying said flanges.

3. A first tube having a plurality of generally rectangular sidewalls; a second tube having a plurality of generally rectangular sidewalls and nested within said first tube so that the respective sidewalls and vertical edges between sidewalls of said tubes are in register and the upper margins of said tubes are aligned; a plurality of corner posts interposed between said first and second tubes; a frame supported on said corner posts; fastening means for fastening said first tube, said second tube and said frame together; and a cover having a panel and a plurality of dependent skirt flanges, said cover being received over the upper margins of said tubes and said skirt panels overlying a portion of the sidewalls of said first tube.

4. The container of claim 3 wherein said fastening means includes a strap overlying said skirt panels.

5. A container comprising: a first tube; a second tube nested within said first tube and having its upper margin generally aligned with the upper margin of said first tube; a plurality of corner posts interposed between said first and second tubes and extending substantially the entire length of said tubes; a frame supported by said corner posts; and fastening means including flanges extending from the upper margin of said second tube and folded to overlie said first tube.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,640,452 8/1927 Knowlton 206- 2,019,778 11/1935 Enholm et al. 229l4 DAVID M. BOCKENEK, Primary Examiner. 

